Totkv Mocvse/New Fire: Creek Folktales

Totkv Mocvse/New Fire presents the work of Earnest Gouge, an important early Creek (Muskogee) author, and makes available for the first time-in Creel and English--the myths and legends of a major American Indian tribe.

In 1915, Earnest Gouge was encouraged by ethnographer John Reed Swanton to record Creek legends and myths. Gouge's manuscript lay in the National Anthropological Archives for eighty-five years until two Creek-speaking sisters, Margaret McKane Mauldin and Juanita McGirt, and linguist Jack B. Martin, began translating and editing the document. In Totkv Mocvse/New Fire, Gouge's stories appear in parallel format, with the Creek text alongside the English translation.

The stories cover many themes, from the humorous allegories of Rabbit, Wolf, and other personified animals, to hunting stories designed to frighten a nighttime audience in the woods. An insightful foreword by Craig Womack and Jack Martin's introduction frame the stories within Creek literature and history. Martin and Mauldin also provide brief introductions to each story, highlighting key elements of Creek culture.

Author: Earnest Gouge
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Published: 06/30/2004
Binding Type: CD
Weight: 0.19lbs
Size: 5.08h x 5.54w x 0.39d
ISBN: 9780806136301

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2005 pg. 1270

About the Author
Gouge, Earnest: -

Earnest Gouge (ca. 1865-1955) was a full-blood Creek (Muskogee) born in Indian Territory. A natural storyteller, Gouge, like his adoptive father, later turned to the ministry but never neglected Creek ceremonial ways.

Martin, Jack B.: -

Jack B. Martin is Director of Linguistics and Robert F. and Sarah M. Boyd Associate Professor of English at the College of William and Mary, and coauthor, with Margaret Mauldin, of A Dictionary of Creek/Muskogee.

Mauldin, Margaret McKane: -

Margaret McKane Mauldin is a fluent Creek speaker and Instructor in the University of Oklahoma's Anthropology Department.

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